The perfect summer bod, fit for bathing suit season and our personal favorite… shedding the holiday fat. Do those statements sound familiar? We bet you’ve heard something like them or read it at least once this year. As a society, we seem to be incredibly fascinated with the way our bodies look. We want to be in the best shape of our life. We want the body of a model and it’s become so important that we’ve forgotten another health factor.

Rather than worrying about how we look, we should be thinking about how we feel. The number of mental health issues across the country is on the rise and has been for some time. From self-harm to severe levels of depression, many people are not in great mental health. What’s the point of having that perfect summer body if you’re too depressed to go outside? It’s time to learn the secrets behind keeping good mental health.

A Little Exercise Goes A Long Way

If you’re worried about your body shape, you’ll be pleased to know that exercise does have an impact on your mental health as well. That’s why we would encourage you to keep up an exercise routine if you want to stay mentally healthy. At the very least we recommend you get some fresh air at least once a day. Either by going for a run or walking a few blocks down the street. This little dose of exercise is all it takes to stay in good mental health. Although, it’s true to say that vigorous exercise has it’s benefits as well. If you exercise regularly and push yourself, you can quite literally work off any stress or tension built up in the body. This is one of the reasons why many people claim constant exercise keeps the body young. This site http://www.stress.org.uk/exercise.aspx has got some great tips for reducing stress through fitnes. After all, nothing is more damaging to the human body than stress as you are about to discover.

Keep Stress Levels Low

Stress is one of the biggest enemies to your mental health. But it can also cause serious physical health problems as well. If you want to keep good mental health, you’ve got to work to reduce the level of stress in your life. As we said, part of this is certainly getting a good amount of daily exercise. But you need to work on avoiding stressful situations as well. One prime example would be road rage. Many people find themselves getting stressed trying to get to and from work. But when you start to think about it you’ll realise the time it takes to get to work is rather inconsequential. If it takes too long, it just means that you need to leave a little earlier. Do this and you should find you reduce the stress in this situation. Another possibility would be a social situation that causes you stress. This might be a meeting at work that’s making you agitated. If you’re facing this problem, focus on counting from one to ten in your head. By the time you reach ten, you should find you’ve calmed your mind and your thought process is clearer.

A Healthy Diet

Is a healthy diet going to affect your mental health? You bet it is! In fact, if you’ve got a poor diet, it’s highly likely that you’re going to find your mental health is in a poor condition. The reason for this is the chemicals present in junk food and fizzy drinks and the effect they have on the mind. If you want your mental health to be better you just need remove the sugars and fats from your diet. Not all of them but a large majority. Instead you need to be focusing on eating fruit and vegetables. Doing this, you should find that you are both happier and healthier. You’ll be amazed by how much the right diet could affect how you feel. If you don’t think there’s any link between emotion and food, think again. Chocolate is the prime example here. Chocolate has been shown to produce the same feeling associated with love. Although, the rush you get from consuming chocolate is considerably shorter. You could have a look at http://www.livestrong.com/article/ for more info on the effects of chocolate.

Well Rested

Do you want to be ready to go each morning after you wake up? Then you need to make sure that you’re getting a good rest each night. Many people find that their mental health deteriorates because they are not getting enough sleep. You might have heard that some people believe you only need a couple of hours sleep per night. While it’s true that you only need two hours each night to get through the day, you need a lot more than that to function fully. Getting a full night of sleep is one of the easiest ways to protect your mental health. Just think how good it feels after you are well rested, and you’ll realise exactly what we mean. With all the stresses in the world today, it’s just not possible to survive unless you are hitting that pillow hard.

Try Meditation

Have you ever thought about trying meditation to improve your mental health? It’s worth considering that’s for sure. Meditation has been linked to several health benefits and has even been shown to have positive effects on diet. You might want to read more about that on a site like http://www.thealternativedaily.com/kelee-meditation-clear-mind/. By meditating you are working to calm the mind and reaping the benefits of doing so. You’ll be able to think more clearly, and you should find your level of stress reduced significantly. It’s also possible that meditation can help you reach a clearer sense of purpose in life.

Let It Out

Last but not least, if you want to keep your mental health you can’t keep feelings trapped inside. You have to find some way to express both negative and positive emotions. Again, this could be done through exercise or perhaps a more creative form of release. Many people find keeping a diary or blog helps them release built up emotions and tension. Do this and you can make sure your mind is just as healthy as your body.